Messiah 2: Vengeance Is Mine (2002) (TV)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

David Richards

Writers:

Lizzie Mickery (writer)
Boris Starling (creator)

Release Date:

24 August 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Child Murder | Injustice | Investigation | Murder | Police

Cast

Ken Stott	...	DCI Red Metcalfe
Neil Dudgeon	...	DI Duncan Warren
Frances Grey	...	DS Kate Beauchamp
Art Malik	...	DCS Sam Emerson
Gillian Taylforth	...	Helen
Alun Armstrong	...	DCI Charlie Macintyre
Vincent Regan	...	DI David Wilby
Emily Joyce	...	Anna Marchent
Shaun Dingwall	...	Daniel Jameson
Michelle Forbes	...	Susan Metcalfe
David Quilter	...	Brian Herd
Kieran O'Brien	...	Eric Metcalfe
Angela Bruce	...	Dr. Dugdale
Jon Strickland	...	Dr. Bannerman
Velibor Topic	...	Davor Pasovic

Runtime:

180 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | British Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

BBC Northern Ireland

Quotes:

DS Kate Beauchamp: Russ Collier
DI Duncan Warren: Dead guy auditioning for "The Mummy Returns"

Movie Connections:

Followed by Messiah: The Promise (2004) (TV)

Maybe A Bit Too Dark

I didn`t see the original MESSIAH and couldn`t help feeling that perhaps that I should have after seeing the first half hour of the sequel , but not to worry even though it`s perhaps not as stand alone as the QUATERMASS serials or the James Bond franchise you don`t need to have seen the original to follow MESSIAH 2 : VENGANCE IS MINE

That said however no one can accuse VENGANCE IS MINE of being a groundbreaking crime thriller . It`s all filmed in the same extremely dark way as HANNIBAL , SEVEN , TOUCHING EVIL etc . In fact it`s so dark it`s sometimes difficult to see what`s going on . And it tries to shock the viewers with cruel deaths that these " shocking " deaths end up being laughable due to their OTT manner , instead of feeling sorry for the victims you can`t help giving an involuntary laugh as they meet their demise , especially the chap who gets bumped off beside the railway line . In fact so many people get abducted and murdered in relatively public places without the murderer being seen or interupted that I couldn`t help feeling there might be a supernatural angle to all this . This doesn`t happen and strangely enough when the killer is revealed the story doesn`t fall apart as much as I expected . Okay it`s unlikely for the reasons I`ve outlined but it does make logical sense .

One special word of note - for the first time ever we have an American actress playing a British character without a hint of an American accent , you`d have no idea at all that Michelle Forbes is an American actress . There is a very good reason for this . Watch VENGANCE IS MINE to see what I mean